this very important gavel chairing the foreign affairs committee following a leadership of chairman clinton. we are in a tight schedule and 5 like to call up senator kc. i would be remiss if i did not recognize the presence here today of lieutenant-colonel larry lerlach. he was commander of an amphibious unit in lebanon. in october of 1983 hezbollah terrorists drove two trucks and exploded the american and french marine barracks. he survived it, 241 american women did not. he is here today with us. we thank you so much for your service and honoring us. [applause] >> welcome again to the foundation for defense of democracy's annual washington forum. my name is kenneth schwartz. i have the pleasure of introducing distinguished public official robert kc, senior senator from the state of pennsylvania. you served since 2007 as chairman of near east and south asia subcommittee, senate foreign relations committee only in the first term. one can scarcely imagine a more challenging time, the past two years in the middle east have seen wars in international borders, collapse of regimes in decades and